


The Zombocamas (Zombocalypse Christmas)

by kyjr



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, KAT-TUN (Band), Kanjani8 (Band), NewS (Band)
Genre: AU, Gen, Humour, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-12
Updated: 2013-10-12
Packaged: 2017-12-29 04:07:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1000686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyjr/pseuds/kyjr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zombies have taken over the world, and Yamashita Tomohisa has to survive. For Jin. And for Christmas. Mostly for Christmas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Zombocamas (Zombocalypse Christmas)

**Author's Note:**

> Dedicated to my mum. Merry Christmas! Originally posted [here](http://kyjr.livejournal.com/10010.html) and [here. ](http://kingdom-lights.livejournal.com/4744.html#cutid1)

Yamashita Tomohisa was a simple enough guy. All he wanted in his life was a roof over his head, a steady job and a dog named Princess.

But all he had now was a small, rickety manmade hut, a dirtied backpack and a pair of binoculars slung around his neck.

He still remembered that one day, months ago. It had been a hot summer afternoon, when the television had flickered to life and the newsreader had read them their death sentence. A science lab had lost control of their experiments, and they had broken free of their confines. Devouring and biting their way throughout the country, the 'experiments' turned other people into what they essentially were - zombies, created from science and mutated viruses. The streets of Tokyo were now full of the rotting stench of the creatures; their past meals lay half-eaten in the middle of the roads, pecked at by glossy black crows.

Yamashita was left homeless, like many other people. Months had passed since the declaration of the outbreak, and almost everyone had rushed to travel somewhere - out of the country, out to more rural areas. Houses had collapsed, fires had broken out, earthquakes had shaken them. There were barely any buildings left standing, and if they were, they had probably belonged to the people who lay dead in them. He was the only one left from his family.

So, that was how he now found himself crouching under a few planks of wood. He knew he wasn't safe, especially since night was falling upon Tokyo, and so Yamashita shouldered his backpack and set off.

"Yamapi? Where're you going? Aren't we just going to-- Yamapi?" Yamashita sighed and turned around, coming face-to-face with a short, light-haired man, whose large eyes looked up at him imploringly.

"What, Tegoshi?"

Tegoshi Yuya was another thing that Yamashita had collected on his travels to escape the zombies. He had found him wandering the streets, looking lost and worse for wear, and since that day, he had never been able to shake the younger man. And he had the strangest obsession with _skulls,_ of all things.

"Where are you going? Are you leaving? Why? What about me?"

"Tegoshi, we've been through this - _only one question at a time."_

"...are you leaving?"

"Yes."

"Without telling me?" And as soon as those puppy dog eyes came out, Yamashita knew that this kid was coming along with him. Yet again.

"Oh, for-- Fine. _Fine._ Come on, then." Yamashita led them through the shadows, even though shadows were not much use against the zombies, who couldn't see very clearly anyway. "Have you got the club?"

"Ah...no." Great. Their weapon against the zombies had been left behind. Of course. "Hey! _Hey!_ There's an old music store!"  
Tegoshi was pointing to an old building across the street, it's windows broken and smashed, but the instruments still in relatively good condition. Flickering lights illuminated the inside of it, creating an eerie aura around the place, but Tegoshi was already crossing the street and heading to it. Yamashita sighed, passed a hand through his hair, and followed, albeit more carefully than the other.

So why was Yamashita wandering the streets at night, rather than finding a safe spot and _staying the heck there?_ He was looking for his friend - tall, black hair, immensely annoying but still somehow his best friend. Bloody Jin. Only he would make Yamashita trek all throughout Tokyo just to see if he was still alive. And if he was still alive, Yamashita was going to kill him.

Well, not really.

"Tegoshi?" Yamashita called out, carefully stepping over the remains of the door. Everything was run-down; a grand piano stood proudly in the centre of the room, dust and rubble covering it's surface. Tegoshi was running his hands over the dirtied keys, happily pressing random notes as he saw fit. Guitars hung off the walls and some off the ceilings, but some had fallen down to the floor and lay smashed amidst pieces of concrete. Yamashita coughed, before grabbing a hold of Tegoshi's wrists. The other looked up, startled.

"What?"

"Stop making so much noise. They'll be able to hear us," Yamashita muttered, and Tegoshi wrenched his wrists out of Yamashita's grip.

"Fine," he pouted, rubbing his wrists. "And it wasn't noise; it was music."

Yamashita held back the comment he was about to voice, and continued to tread carefully over the rubble on the floor, making his way to the back of the shop. "I suppose there aren't any here," he said, looking back at Tegoshi, who was now drawing in the dust on the piano. He sighed.

"Yamapi?" Tegoshi called, almost as soon as he turned back again.

"What?" Yamashita said distractedly, sifting through drawers behind the counter. They would be lucky if they found food in this store. Or maybe one of those guitars would make a good weapon?

"Can you come and look at this guitar?"

Yamashita wondered how many times he had sighed in the past twenty minutes. "What?"

"This guitar," Tegoshi said, pointing towards the floor near where he stood. Yamashita dusted off his pants and walked back over to him, looking at the ground. There was a guitar lying on the floor, much like the others. It was a light blue colour.

"What about it?"

"Isn't there something strange about it?"

"It's a guitar. I don't know - maybe there's some sort of design flaw? How am I supposed to know?" Yamashita moved to turn back - maybe there was some food at the back - but stopped dead when Tegoshi spoke calmly.

"But it's not dirty."

"Huh?"

"Look at it," he said, moving to it and picking it up. "There's no dust on it. There's barely even a scratch." Yamashita rushed over, running his hands over it's surface.

"You're right," he muttered, and Tegoshi beamed. No scratches. That meant that either a zombie had learnt how to play the guitar, which Yamashita highly doubted, since they could barely stand upright properly, or that someone else was here. "Hello?" Yamashita called loudly, straightening up. Tegoshi put the guitar down on the top of the piano, scuttling to hide behind the other man.

"Fuck it," a coarse voice said, and the two jumped. The side wall moved, and a piece of it was removed by a dark-skinned man, who stepped out of the wall with part of it in his hands and dusting his hair off.

"Wha--- eh?" was all Yamashita could say, as they watched him throw down the piece of wall which had been hiding him away.

"Nishikido Ryo," the other said, thrusting his hand at them. Yamashita shook it first, and then Tegoshi, who was still rather wide-eyed.

"You...came out of the _wall_ \--"

"So that's yours?" Yamashita asked, pointing towards the guitar. Nishikido grimaced.

"Yeah, but you've got _dirt_ all over it," he muttered, quickly wiping it's surface down and taking it off the piano and sighing.

"Sorry," Yamashita said. He wasn't.

"So, what're you here for?"

"Huh?"

"Not very quick, are we?" the stranger said, a smirk on his face as he leant against the counter with his arms crossed. "I meant, what do you want. This is a music store. Not a place to hide people." Nishikido peered over Yamashita's shoulder, at Tegoshi, who was still hiding behind him. "What's up with him?"

"He gets scared easily."

"I do _not_. He just...surprised me, that's all," Tegoshi huffed.

"I'm looking for a friend. His name is Akanishi Jin, have you heard of him?" Yamashita said, ignoring Tegoshi who sighed in annoyance and started looking around again.

Nishikido thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Nope. But there's a building around Akihabara; it's heavily guarded, and you'll be able to check his name off. You're trying to see if he's still around?"

Yamashita nodded. "I haven't seen him in months - when things started getting real serious. I've lost both my sister and my mother, so I want to know if he's still alive, you know?"

Nishikido hummed. "Yeah, well, anyone still clinging to hope is admirable to me," he said, sniffing and turning to his guitar. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Huh?"

"You say that alot, don't you? I'm bored here, and I want to see if some of my family are still alive - they're in Osaka. If you're going that way, then I want to join you two. It's better than going alone," Nishikido said, already packing his guitar into a case and shouldering it before heading into the backroom.

"Uh...okay?" Tegoshi just looked at him.

"So...he's coming?"

"I guess so. Bugger, we've almost run out of food."

 

   >>><<<   

 

Nishikido had his own supply of food, but didn't mind them sharing it. He carried his guitar everywhere - except when they were running for their lives, away from zombies. Which happened a lot. He would first drop his backpack, then carefully set his guitar down, before bolting. He was slower than Tegoshi, who was surprisingly fast at running, but he was never caught by the zombies. And he would always go back to find his guitar after.

The road to Akihabara was tough. Zombies were everywhere - in the train stations, in the pet stores, even in hotels. It was difficult to find new accomodation every night, but somehow they managed. One of them would stay awake, listening out for the telltale shuffling noises that generally signalled a zombie approaching, and shaking the others awake.

Nishikido was quite a good fighter, surprisingly. Their general rule was to run when zombies approached, but sometimes that was impossible. He would hack his way out with any available blunt object, screaming at the top of his lungs as Tegoshi followed closely behind and Yamashita fought his own way. It was handy having someone else to worry about Tegoshi's whereabouts at any one time.

One Tuesday found them in the middle of a graveyard, panting and clutching at their chests as they hid behind a particularly large headstone. "Phew," Tegoshi said, sliding down the headstone and sitting on the ground, out of breath. "That was hard."

"Hard? Who the hell had to bash their heads in?" Nishikido spat, but it was hard to sound snarky and gasp for breath at the same time.

"You did," sighed Tegoshi and Yamashita at the same time.

"Thankyou."

"You know they can probably still hear you, right?"

The three froze, and slowly looked up. Infront of them stood a beautiful white statue of an angel, the base of which was covered in green moss. The name on the grave was impossible to read, and it's wings were chipped and broken, it's face cracked as it's unseeing eyes stared past them. "What?" Nishikido asked, eyes wide. Yamashita and Tegoshi both copied him.

"They're not that far away; they could still probably hear you," the angel said. Well, they had thought it was the statue. Then they saw a pair of sneakers poking out from behind it, and in another second, the person behind the statue had jumped down and was walking towards them. "Ueda Tatsuya," he said.

The man had straight copper hair, and was fidgeting with the hem of his overly large shirt. His jeans were ripped; his sneakers were scuffed and filthy. He had large brown eyes, and his hands had big calluses on his knuckles. There was a baseball bat hanging out of his other hand.

"Er...hi," Yamashita said, leaning forward to shake his hand, but the other just looked at it. After a while, Yamashita just drew his hand away awkwardly. He heard Nishikido chuckle.

"Where are you off to?" he asked, his voice soft and deep.

"Akihabara," Tegoshi piped up, smiling. "Want to come w--" The rest of Tegoshi's sentence was muffled, as Nishikido had thrown his hand over his mouth. "Ew, Ryo, your hands are _gross._ "

Ueda laughed slightly. "It's alright."

"Where are you living?" Yamashita asked, casting his eye around. He couldn't see any signs of shelter or a house.

"Oh, everywhere where the undead aren't," Ueda said. Nishikido scrunched his nose up.

"Want to come with us, then?" Tegoshi asked.

_"Why do you want him to come so badly--"_

"Okay."

 

>>><<<

 

Ueda Tatsuya was a strange man. He would stare off into space as they sat around their fire, off in his own little world. It wasn't such a big thing, unless they were in the middle of talking about their new escape plan, and had to whack him so that he would pay more attention. He claimed that he could see fairies. Nishikido claimed that Ueda was mental.

They didn't really care, though, because Ueda was very efficient in cleaving the heads off zombies. Worryingly efficient - using only one hand on his baseball bat, he would swing it about with a scary kind of grace.

They were haunting an old abandoned shopping centre, scavenging for food, when the zombies broke in. Ueda and Nishikido were paired together, as were Tegoshi and Yamashita, when it happened. The doors, even though they had carefully placed a chunk of wood over the entrance, were now bowed with the force of keeping the horde back.

_"Shiiiiiit--"_ Nishikido cursed, grabbing Ueda and his backpack and turning them around, as the doors groaned. "YAMASHITA WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

"I'M HERE!" came another yell, from aisles further away. "IN THE ASIAN SECTION!"

"Of _course_ he is," Nishikido muttered, dragging Ueda past other aisles. "WHERE THE-- oh it's here," he said to himself, backtracking and almost breaking Ueda's arm in the process.

"Nishikido, _let go of my arm!"_ Ueda snapped, wrenching his arm out of Nishikido's grip, only to attach himself onto the other man as the door splintered and broke, letting in a pack of zombies, which began to head straight towards Ueda's voice.

"Nice work, Princess," Nishikido yelled, and the two ran towards Yamashita and Tegoshi, who were already making their way towards them.

The zombies advanced, moaning and groaning and falling over themselves as they walked through the aisles. Their stench wafted before them, filling up their nostrils with a horrid smell that made them gag as they bolted for the other exit.

"Tegoshi, get infront of me!" Yamashita yelled, throwing the smaller infront of him, before turning and swiping at the oncoming zombies with a golf club.

"Nishikido; _run!_ Move those duck feet and _run!"_ Ueda shouted.

"Get off me so I can _fucking run faster, then!"_ Nishikido shouted back, trying to shake off Ueda's arm. Ueda ignored him, choosing instead to clutch on tighter.

_"Shut up and run!"_

Tegoshi ran ahead, being the fastest one of them all, as the other three trailed behind, Yamashita having thrown his golf club away when it snapped in half after getting caught by a zombie. Suddenly, they heard a shriek.

"TEGOSHI!" Nishikido roared.

"I'm fine! I'm fine! But stop coming this way; there's even more of them!" Tegoshi yelled back, and the three of them skidded around a corner, quickly meeting up with Tegoshi who was wide-eyed in fear.

"What do we do now?" Ueda asked, out of breath, as they tried a new approach and started to climb the shelves.

"Keep going - there has to be an exit somewhere," Yamashita said, looking about.

"I heard screaming - does anyone need help?" a voice called.

"YES!" Tegoshi screamed, before Nishikido could grab him and shut him up again.

"Oh! I didn't expect-- okay then! Hold on! I'm coming!" the voice yelled back.

"Because one more person is going to make a huge differen--" Nishikido was cut off as his legs were suddenly pulled, and he was yanked down with a cry.

"RYO!"

"NISHIKIDO!" Ueda yelled, holding out his hand so that Nishikido could grab onto him.

"Don't worry - we're alive!" the person holding onto Nishikido yelled, and the man stopped struggling. "We're trying to help."

There were three other men fighting off the zombies, with large, steel poles, making a terrible crunching noise as they connected with the zombies' heads. "Oh," Tegoshi murmured, still hanging off the shelf.

"Here, I'll help you," the man said, offering his hand. Tegoshi took it first, and was lowered. Yamashita let Ueda go next, and jumped down himself.

"Show off," Nishikido muttered.

"You know it," Yamashita muttered back, fixing his clothes before focusing on the task at hand. "Do you want us to help you here, or--"

"Get going - as soon as you're out, we're following," the man said, and pushed Ueda towards the exit. The four didn't hesitate, and rushed out through the small gap the man had pushed them towards.

"Tegoshi - you first," Yamashita said, throwing him at the gap in the wall - it was only small, and Yamashita didn't know if he could fit through it. Once Tegoshi's slight body had fit through without too much trouble, he continued, "Ryo, you're next." Nishikido looked at Ueda.

"What about him?"

"His shoulders are too wide. You go," Yamashita said, shoving him towards the wall. Nishikido nodded quickly, and ducked his head before fitting through the hole.

"Seriously, that man can complain during any situation," Ueda said, covering his mouth from the stink of the zombies, who were barely being kept at bay by the strangers.

"Ueda, just _go!"_ Yamashita yelled.

"Alright, alright, I'm going," he said, casting a look behind his shoulder at the zombies. He had to angle his body to the side slightly, but he managed to get through without too much hassle. Yamashita was next, and his clothes and skin scraped along the rough edges of the wall, but he, too, got out relatively unharmed. The four strangers came out soon afterwards, yelling at them to get moving, for the zombies had already started crawling through the space.

They were led to their hideout - an old abandoned train, which lay broken at the side of the tracks it had run off. Inside, the four threw their weapons to the side, to be cleaned later, and collapsed onto a couch. The one that had grabbed Nishikido remained standing, however, and introduced them.

"My name is Nakamaru Yuichi," he said, bowing slightly. "This is Kato Shigeaki," he gestured to a tall man, who waved at them, "Taguchi Junnosuke---"

_"Iriguchi, deguchi, Taguchi desu--"_

"He does that a lot, just ignore him. And this is Tanaka Ko-- Koki? Koki. Koki!" The man - Nakamaru - called, for the other had focused on a bug crawling across the floor.

"Hm?" he asked, looking up. "Oh, right. Hi." Yamashita thought he looked quite scary, and decided to keep Tegoshi away from him. But he didn't have to worry - Tegoshi was already inching away from this Tanaka Koki person.

"Thanks for rescuing us, but we should be going--"

"No, no! Stay!" Kato said.

"But--"

"We really can't--"

"We insist, really. We can't just let you go back out there - who knows how long it could be before you can find food again--"  
As the two groups fought about whether or not they were going to stay, Yamashita threw a pleading look over to Ueda, who sighed, and crossed his arms. "I see fairies," he said airily, and both groups paused.

"On second thought, maybe it is better that you get going now--"

"--what with sunset coming and all--"

"--and we can't really trust you _completely,_ you know?"

Yamashita smiled widely at Ueda once they had left the train, and the other just grimaced back. "I hate you - I hope you all know that," he said, before walking on ahead, swinging his baseball bat.

"Yamashita! Yama--"

"Yeah?" Yamashita said, turning around. Kato had followed them, waving his arms about. "What is it?"

"I heard from someone that you're going to Akihabara," he said, breathlessly as he rested his hands on his knees to try and catch his breath. "Man, I'm a bad runner-- Anyway, I was wondering if I could join you?"

_Say no, say no, say no,_ Yamashita's inner voice said. "But - Ueda sees fairies," he quickly said, but Kato waved a hand at him.

"Eh, so what - I have an invisible cat," Kato said matter-of-factly, and Yamashita swore he saw Tegoshi speed up his pace to catch up to Ueda.

"Uh...okay....then..."

Kato beamed. "Can I come? It's just - I have a friend who is missing, and I kinda want to check if he's still around and not eating other people."

Yamashita looked over to Nishikido, who was the only one who had paused. Ueda and Tegoshi were walking ahead - well, Ueda was walking, Tegoshi was half-walking, half-running. Nishikido just shrugged.

"I don't care anymore," Nishikido said, sighing before walking on.

"Fine, then," Yamashita concluded, and Kato smiled. They started to catch up with the other three, and Yamashita added, "Who are you looking for? Maybe I know who it is."

"You always say that, but you never do," Ueda called out from over his shoulder.

"Shut up!"

"His name is Koyama Keiichiro," Kato said. "He's tall, lanky, massive toothy grin?"

Yamashita shook his head. "Never heard of--"

_"I told you!"_

 

>>><<<

 

Ueda and Kato were by themselves, hunting for firewood and possible food supplies - they were always looking for food supplies - when they came across a bakery. Now, this wasn't such a big issue - they had found a heap of similar stores - but the strange thing about this one was that there was smoke wafting out of the chimney at the top.

"There is no way I'm going in there," Kato said, as soon as he turned around and saw a scary determination in Ueda's eyes. "No. No, _please._ Ueda! Ue-- damn it, why did I agree to come with you?" he whined, as Ueda paid him no attention and started walking towards the bakery.

"Because my fairies are awesome," was his reply. Kato didn't think that was an adequate answer, but he let it pass as Ueda signalled him to be quiet. Drawing out his baseball bat, the copper-haired man crouched down outside of the store, near the wall, and hid underneath the windowsill, sighing and rolling his eyes when he noticed that Kato hadn't followed. " _Come here,_ " he hissed, awkwardly reaching out and grabbing ahold onto Kato's sleeve, dragging him down to the ground. "Have you got your mallet?"

"Yeah," Kato answered, reaching into his backpack and bringing the weapon out. "I'm all set."

"Here - trade," Ueda said, snatching the object out of Kato's hands and instead giving him his bat.

"Wha--"

"You can barely lift this - I still can't believe Nishikido gave it to you," Ueda muttered, checking over the mallet. "Right, let's--"

"Hi there; would you like a pie?" a cheerful voice sounded, causing them to jump and whip around. A smiling man was leaning out of the window, an apron around his body and a small hat upon his head. "Unless you're zombies - then I don't think you'd like the apple filling..." he trailed off, and Ueda and Kato could only watch him with some sort of disbelief. "...if you are zombies, though, please don't eat me. I don't think I'd taste very nice."

"Uh... we aren't zombies?" Ueda said, his voice slightly going up at the end. He didn't trust Kato to speak - last time they had let him do that, he had let out an unmanly squeak and rushed to hide behind Tegoshi, who was in turn hiding behind Yamashita.  
"Okay, then," the man chirped. "Would you like to come in?"

The bakery was well-lit, and so warm, with a wonderfully comforting smell wafting from it's kitchen. Ueda sighed as he walked into it, shrugging off his jacket and dumping it near the door. The man immediately squealed and rushed to the piece of clothing, picking it up and hanging it on the coat rack. He let out a breath, and Ueda and Kato were slightly worried about his mental stability. "Pie!" he suddenly exclaimed, making Ueda and Kato jump again, and rushed towards the counter, leaping behind it and disappearing into the room beyond.

"What the hell have you gotten us into, Ueda?"

"Blame the fairies," came the whispered reply, as he walked up to the counter. "Hello?"

"Yes?" the voice called.

"Uh... you are aware that there are zombies running wild around here, right?" Ueda asked.

"Quite aware, thankyou!"

Ueda turned to give Kato an incredulous stare. "Right, so... why is your shop so bright? Wouldn't it make more sense to dull it down a little?"

"But then no-one would know I'm here!" he sung out.

_"That's the point, you crazy little man,"_ Ueda hissed, keeping his voice low so that the other couldn't hear him. Kato snorted.

"Where are you guys off to?" he asked, walking into the main room and setting down two large pies. "Ah - one's an apple pie, and one is a chicken pie. I don't really like chicken, myself, but--"

"I'm sorry, we didn't catch your name?" Kato finally spoke up, ignoring Ueda's crazed signals to tell him to _shut the hell up._

"Masuda! My name is Masuda Takahisa, pleased to meet you," he said, smiling cheerfully and giving them a small bow. "And this isn't my place, I just found it and started baking. I love food..."

"But what about the zombies?" Ueda asked, stretching out every syllable as if the other couldn't understand him.

"Oh, them? They're fine. They never come in here. Well - only that one time, but it's okay, they left."

"...I don't understand."

"Why do you have a baseball bat?"

"Uh... to beat away the zombies?"

"Could you put it down, please? I don't allow violence in my bakery," he practically sung. "Do you want me to wrap these up for y--"

"Yes please!" Ueda shouted, and Kato shot him a look.

"Okay, then - I'll be right back."

As Masuda skipped away, Kato turned to Ueda. "Why so eager for pie?"

"I don't give a damn about the bloody pie. I want to get the hell out of here," Ueda whispered, looking about. "I feel like we're freaking Hansel and Gretel."

"Well, if we're Hansel and Gretel, I want to be Hansel."

"I'm breaking your glasses when we get back."

 

>>><<<

 

"I want more pie," Tegoshi complained, as they walked down the street.

"We know, shut up," Yamashita said, walking ahead of them and wielding a sledgehammer. The pie had lasted them quite a while - probably because Ueda and Kato hadn't eaten any, because they were too worried as to what the strange Masuda had put in them.

"Don't tell Tegoshi to shut up, he's adorable," Nishikido snapped, slinging an arm over Tegoshi's shoulder.

"Oh, stop talking, you impossi--"

"YAMASHITA!" Nishikido roared, "UEDA'S CALLING ME NAMES AGAIN!"

"Ueda, stop calling Nishikido names," Yamashita called over his shoulder in a bored tone. Nishikido shot Ueda a smug smile.

"You two are so childish," Kato muttered, and Ueda kicked the back of his knee, sending him sprawling onto the ground.

"I hope you landed in poop."

"Guys, I hope there's someone bringing up the rear," Yamashita called, and the other four froze. "Cause otherwise they could come up and attack us and I'd never know if you had been eaten, and frankly, I don't really care."

"Kato's at the back!" Ueda yelled, and Kato groaned, picking himself up off the ground.

"Why me? You know how bad my reflexes are..."

So Kato brought up the rear of their sorry-looking group as they marched on towards Akihabara. "I wonder what happened to Masu--"

"We're never speaking of that again, Kato," Ueda shouted.

"...'kay."

 

>>><<<

 

Akihabara came closer and closer with each passing day. There was no way any of them would have survived at all without each other - the zombies just seemed to increase with every step they took.

They came across a pile of zombie bodies, which stank and made Ueda gag and duck behind a wall. "This is _gross_ ," Kato whined, as Yamashita stalked around the pile, picking up extra weapons and useful objects here and there. "Yamapi, _stop..._ "

"Whoever made this is disgusting," Tegoshi declared, nose wrinkled up. "They obviously have some terrible psychological condition."

"Says the one who leaps at everything wi--"

_"Oooh, skull!"_ Tegoshi squealed, rushing forward to tug a necklace off one of the dead zombies. He admired it, smiling. "Oh good, it's pink."

Nishikido slowly moved away from Tegoshi, choosing to stand next to Ueda instead. "Told you so," he whispered, then sniffed the air. "What's that sm-- _oh God, Ueda, it's your puke oh--"_

Ueda smirked as Nishikido skidded on the ground as he ran behind the wall, hands covering his mouth. "Ha."

"No, seriously, you really do smell," Kato said, then expertly ducked as Ueda swung his bat at him.

"Who made this?" Yamashita muttered to himself, trying to ignore the others as best as he could as he walked around the zombie-pile. "Why?"

"Maybe someone just really hates zombies," Tegoshi said. Yamashita stopped and stared at him. "What?"

"Everyone hates zombies."

"Maybe they're just misunderstood--"

"Shut up, Tegoshi." Tegoshi pouted, before slipping on his new necklace. Ueda grimaced.

"Gah," Nishikido grumbled, coming out from behind the wall again and wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "I hate life."

"Why are you with us again?" Ueda asked.

"You joined after I did," Nishikido spat.

"Sorry - where's your guitar again?" Ueda said, and Nishikido flew into a panic, turning around on the spot. He glared when he realised that it was on his back, safely.

"YAMASHITA! UEDA'S--"

"SHUT UP, RYO, WHO KNOW'S WHAT'S AROUND HERE!"

"Ha, take _that_ , Nishikido," Ueda muttered, crossing his arms.

"Let's just get going," Yamashita said. "I'm sick of all of this."

The group had just started walking back down the path, when a tall, lanky man rushed out of a building, flailing his arms. "Hello? Hello there!"

"Hello?" Tegoshi called, shielding his eyes from the sun with one of his hands, trying to see the man clearly. "Who's there?"

"My name is--"

_"Koyama?!"_

_"Shige?!"_

"Oh my God, Koyama, I've been looking for you everywhere--"

"Shige! Shige! I've been so worried! How are you? Where is everyone?" This man - Koyama - was apparently the one Kato had been searching for. He was now hugging Kato tightly, smiling ridiculously wide.

"They're all back at the train - they gave up, but I _knew_ you were still around--"

"Kato, is this your friend?" Yamashita asked, and Ueda and Nishikido both looked at him, wondering if he usually hugged strangers like Kato and Koyama were doing now.

"Yeah," Kato said, breathlessly. "This is Koyama Keiichiro, everyone. Everyone, this is Koyama. Koyama, this is everyone. And Tegoshi."

"Hey..." Tegoshi whined, stomping his foot. Koyama squeaked, and rushed over to him.

"Oh my gosh, you're so adorable! Where did you _find_ him?"

"We didn't find him. He just kind of attached himself to us," Yamashita grumbled.

And so did Koyama, somehow. Instead of letting Kato go, so he and Koyama could do best-friend things together, the two stuck around, following the rest of the group around. Ueda found Koyama to be sweet, but Nishikido sort of disliked the other and his cheery personality.

"I mean, the city's been overrun by stinking, rotten zombies, and he's still so goddamn _happy,"_ was his complaint, but it fell on deaf ears, as Ueda was ignoring him for his fairies again. _"Stupid freaking fairies--"_

They kept walking, Koyama now piggybacking Tegoshi, who was asleep. "So where're we going?"

"Akihabara," Yamashita said. "Eventually."

"I like Akihabara," Nishikido said, but once again he was ignored.

"Oh hey, did you guys like my sculpture?" Koyama asked. Ueda and Kato looked at him, puzzled.

"What sculpture?"

"The zombie sculpture," Koyama said simply, shrugging. "I guess you didn't."

Nishikido, Ueda and Kato exchanged looks. Yamashita slowed his walking pace, and Koyama barely shot him a glance before continuing on in the front of the group. Yamashita carefully pulled Tegoshi off of Koyama's back and onto his own, back to relative safety.

"Kato...your friend is strange," Ueda whispered.

"Careful, he may hear you," Nishikido said. "And then you'll become an Ueda pyramid."

"How can one person become a--"

_"If there's a way, he'll know it."_

"Oh, go find your guitar."

"Where's my gu-- I hate you."

"I don't know how you keep falling for that."

 

>>><<<

 

Finally, Akihabara was in sight. It's large, towering buildings, which weren't actually much different from all the other large, towering buildings in Tokyo, came over the horizon, and Nishikido whooped happily, quickly silenced by Ueda and his baseball bat.

As Nishikido rubbed his head, Yamashita shifted Tegoshi over to Kato, and told the rest to stay as he checked the surroundings. Ueda was on patrol over the little group, and he bundled them together in the centre of the road, walking around them with his bat over his shoulder.

"That bat is _steel,_ you could have _killed me--"_

"No-one cares, Nishikido."

"YAMA--oh. Damn it."

"Ha."

Yamashita, however, was standing atop the rubble of a fallen building, trying to figure out where to go. He supposed the bright yellow signs pointing towards the main hall was a good indicator, though.

There were surprisingly little zombies around. He had encountered a few, but they hadn't paid much attention to him, as they were in the middle of feeding. Yamashita grimaced, knowing that it was another human, but was glad it wasn't him.

The hall was well-protected, with guards stationed outside. Yamashita didn't really know why - he didn't really care. So he turned on his heel and carefully ran back to his little band of misfits, waving his arms as he neared them, and Ueda set his bat down.

"Hey," he puffed. "It's just down the road a bit. Come on, I'll lead you." A pause. "Why is Nishikido cowering?"

"He's not cowering. He's simply admiring my awesome," Ueda said lightly, breezing past Yamashita. "You all coming, or what?"

"Shut up, fairy boy, we're coming!" Nishikido snapped, rushing to overtake Ueda.

"Fairy boy?" Kato called. "Really? Have you used up all of your good insults or something?"

"Ueda, give me your bat."

"Guitar."

_"Where th--_ Seriously!"

Ueda chuckled.

 

>>><<<

 

They found their way into the hall, after passing the guards easily. They weren't guarding it from humans, obviously - the massive clubs they held were a giveaway. You couldn't use guns against zombies; you had to bash their heads in. It was quite a gross thing to do, and Tegoshi refused to do it.

The hall was spacious and light. Yamashita supposed that once hundreds of people had filled it, but now all that was inside were two women, a man, and many free-standing boards, each with hundreds of names taped to them.

"Are these the names of survivors?" Yamashita asked, as Kato set Tegoshi down and shook him awake. One of the women nodded.

"Not many..." Ueda whispered. Nishikido nodded as they all looked over the names, eagerly searching for the one that they wanted to be on there.

Kato and Koyama sat back as the others looked. They had already found the person they were looking for.

Yamashita didn't know who the others were looking for, but he knew the one name that he w--

"Kame?" he whispered, leaning forward to stare at the name. If Kamenashi was alive, then that meant Jin wouldn't be too far behind him.

"Heh, look, it's me," Nishikido smirked, before Ueda hit him about the head.

Yamashita searched with a new vigour, being careful so as not to miss any names. _Come on,_ he thought. _Akanishi Jin. Akanishi Jin. Akanishi Jin._

"Akanishi Jin? Is that the guy you're looking for, Yama--" Tegoshi started, before being practically knocked to the ground by Yamashita as he rushed over.

There it was, crisp black lettering on white paper. _Akanishi Jin._ A large smile spread across Yamashita's face. Jin was alive. Now, just where the hell was he? Knowing Jin - in Hawaii by now.

As the others kept searching, Yamashita asked the woman, "How do we know where they are?"

She laughed, and Yamashita re-thought his whole 'no hitting girls' rule. "Just turn the paper over, and there should be a general whereabouts on it," she said, finally. "Didn't you give in your details when the outbreak started?"

He heard Nishikido's chuckle from across the room. "...oh. Thankyou. Shut it, Ryo."

"Didn't say anything..."

He didn't really want to know how they had gotten their information - he hadn't given in anything about himself. He supposed that was why he couldn't find himself anywhere. Yamashita flipped the paper over. Ueno. He was in bloody Ueno, curse him. That was where Yamashita had _started_ in the first place!

Ueda sighed next to him, and moved over to sit next to Kato and Koyama. Yamashita knew that the other had walked four times around the room, without any luck.

Yamashita remembered something, then, and rushed back over to where Kamenashi's name was, turning it over. He was in Ueno, too, damn him. Would it have hurt them to have given him some kind of signal, so that he wouldn't trek all the way across Tokyo, searching for them? No.

Bastards.

Nishikido and Tegoshi were unsuccessful, too, and they returned to their group with glum expressions. Koyama drew Tegoshi in for a hug, and he gladly accepted it. Nishikido just shook out a packet of cigarettes, lifting one up to his mouth. He lit it up, inhaling softly before sighing out smoke. Ueda sat next to him, and grabbed the cigarette from Nishikido's lips, putting it between his own. Nishikido stared.

"What?" Ueda asked, blowing out the smoke into the air above him. "I smoke when I'm depressed."

"I didn't say anything," Nishikido muttered, grabbing his cigarette back. "Get your own."

"Bastard," Ueda said, but grabbed the packet and lit his own.

Kato coughed. "At least go outside..."

"Shut up, we're grieving."

 

>>><<<

 

If Yamashita had thought that he would have gotten rid of their little band, he would have been completely and utterly wrong.

Somehow, the others had decided to accompany him on his journey back to Ueno - as long as they didn't go past Masuda's bakery again. That was the only condition and really, Yamashita needed the company. Not that he would admit to it at all.

This time, they followed the railway from Akihabara to Ueno, stepping upon the long disused tracks. The only trouble with this was that Kato had gotten his feet stuck in the tracks about three times, in the past two days. They stopped at night, staying inside the train stations themselves, or, if they were overrun, they would find an abandoned train. Tegoshi loved the abandoned trains. They still didn't know why - there were no skulls in them. Thank goodness.

Yamashita had noticed that the rest of the group had started to wander. Because of the sudden lack of zombies, the others had gotten slack, and had decided to split off once they were sitting around. Especially Tegoshi and Koyama, but Yamashita didn't really care if Koyama was eaten.

But Yamashita put this out of his mind, and focused on how to kill a certain Akanishi Jin. And, to a lesser extent, Kamenashi, because he knew that those two would be together. Maybe he should get Koyama to do something to them; to make them into an akakame sculpture. Or maybe Nishikido could mangle their faces. Or Tegoshi could disturb Kamenashi's hair. Oh, the possibilities.

He was disturbed from his thoughts when Ueda lightly tapped him on the head with his bat. "You looking at fairies, too?" he smirked. Yamashita shook his head. "I was joking. Anyway, we're here. D'you know where the hell this friend of yours is? He'd better be worth it," Ueda said, before walking away to whack Nishikido across the butt and run away. Nishikido swore and ran after him, but one can only run so far with a guitar slung across his back, and so he settled for yelling.

"Shut up, Nishikido, you're gonna wake the dead," Kato chuckled.

Yamashita checked first his own place, just to make sure, and then went and found Jin's apartment. Both were completely trashed, with their belongings strewn everywhere. Yamashita sighed a little as he saw his music collection smashed on the floor. "Why can't zombies have coordination?" he asked, to no-one in particular.

"We ask the same thing about Shige," Nishikido muttered, and was elbowed by Kato. "Ow."

"Oooh, is there a _Kiddyland_ here?" Tegoshi chirped, looking out of one of the windows. Yamashita nodded. "I want to go."

Yamashita sighed.

"We're not going," Yamashita said. Koyama made a sudden, high-pitched noise. "What?"

"I want to go, too."

"Me too," Kato said.

"Ueda? Nishikido?" Yamashita asked, rubbing his eyes in exasperation. "What about you two?"

"I'm a grown man; I don--"

"Nishikido, they have robots."

_"They do?_ I'm totally there," Nishikido said, bouncing up and down on the balls on his feet.

"Why did you tell him that, Ueda? He's gonna be expecting something massive," Yamashita sighed again.

"Well, I'm sorry, but otherwise he wouldn't have wanted to go."

"You two sound like a married couple," Kato interrupted. They ignored him.

"Why do you want to go?" Yamashita asked.

"Because they have awesome anime merchandise."

"Anime nerd?" Nishikido asked, a smirk on his face and crossing his arms.

"Shut up, Nishikido."

 

>>><<<

 

So they ended up going to Kiddyland, happily led by Tegoshi. Yamashita wondered where the zombies had disappeared to.

They snuck in through the back, and Yamashita had to pry open the door. Ueda found the light switch, and turned it on. The lights flickered and spat, but stayed on, and they ventured inside. There were walls upon walls of toys - the floor they were on generally held new gadgets, and Nishikido let out an unmanly squeal before coughing and moving off to the side to inspect a shiny spider-like robot.

"This is _cool_ ," he whispered.

The others split up, happily inspecting the store. Even Yamashita was having a good time, especially seeing Tegoshi and Ueda laughing together over a overly large, stuffed Totoro. But when Kato tripped over said Totoro and sent everyone, and the table it was set upon, sprawling to the floor, he outright laughed, and Nishikido clapped him on the back. "What?"

"It's been about a month now, and I haven't seen you laugh at all," Nishikido said, as Kato tried to untangle himself from Ueda. "I was beginning to wonder if my jokes were bad..."

"They are-- _Kato Shigeaki, if you don't remove your hand from there--"_

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Ueda--"

"My eyes! My eyes!"

"Shut up, Nishikido. You're so--"

"YAMASHITA! HE'S MAKING FUN OF ME AGAIN!" Nishikido bellowed, and suddenly they heard footsteps running down the stairs to the side. Somehow, Nishikido found time to pocket the small robot he had found as they ducked behind the counter.

"Loudmouth," Ueda whispered, and Yamashita covered his mouth with his hand. "Mmmfff---"

"Yamashita?" a voice called, and Yamashita stilled, holding his breath as if that was going to make him disappear. The others looked at him - even Ueda, who still had his mouth covered. He drew his hand away as it suddenly became wet, and Ueda smirked. He had licked his hand. "Yamashita Tomohisa?"

Yamashita didn't exactly want to stand up, arms outstretched, and say, "Yes? That's me." Also, the people pressing against his back kind of prevented him from doing so.

"Yamapi?"

Yamashita slowly stood up, dislodging both Koyama and Tegoshi, who landed on the floor with a squeak. "...Kame?"

"Yamapi!" A thin man stood next to the fallen Totoro, wide-eyed but smiling. "Oh my gosh, where have you _been?"_ he squawked, rushing over and tripping over Tegoshi. "Oh... hello?" The others looked up rather sheepishly, and smiled. Kamenashi stepped over them to hug a slightly shocked Yamashita happily. "We thought you were _dead_ \- when we saw your place, we didn't know if you were a zombie or dead--"

"No, no, I'm fine," Yamashita said, pulling away. Ueda coughed from somewhere around Kamenashi's knee.

"Fine, since you're not gonna introduce us - _rude bastard_ \- I'm Ueda Tatsuya," Ueda said, and Kamenashi nodded his head slightly to the other, still looking wide-eyed at these slightly wild-looking men. "Tegoshi Yuya, Kato Shigeaki, Nishikido Ryo, and..." Ueda trailed off, watching Koyama, then whispered, "We're not quite sure of Koyama. Just...ignore him or som-- _ouch, Nishikido, you bitch!"_

"Yamash--"

"Ueda, watch your mouth," Yamashita said distractedly, focusing more on the bone-crushing hug that Kamenashi was now giving him.

"Oh! Come upstairs!" Kamenashi exclaimed, once again stepping over Tegoshi, who pouted. "Sorry, didn't see you there-- oh wow, I love your necklace," he said, leaning down to inspect the skull necklace that Tegoshi had stolen from those zombies a while back.

Tegoshi practically _beamed,_ and Yamashita groaned, a noise echoed by both Kato and Ueda. Great. They'd found another skull freak.

As Kamenashi was leading them upstairs, Nishikido fiddling around with the spindly little robot that he had found, Yamashita asked, "Why Kiddyland, of all places?"

Kamenashi turned, hand still on the railing of the stairs. "Because it's Jin," he said simply, shrugging. Yamashita nodded. Ueda and Nishikido exchanged glances. "It was also the only place we could go - the doors are freaking heavy, and no zombie can get through them. I don't know why they're so big; it's just a toy store."

They kept climbing, through the Hello Kitty section - they had to drag Tegoshi away - and the model aeroplane section - they almost lost Kato there - until they found themselves at the anime floor.

"Who's there?" a voice called, and Kamenashi waved his hands in front of his face.

"Just me, Jin."

"...no, I'm pretty sure there are a few other people behind you."

Kamenashi sighed. "It's Yamash--"

_"YAMAPI!"_ Jin squealed, rushing out from between the aisles and leaping at the other, practically sending him to the floor with the force of his hug. Jin had thick black hair, with dark brown eyes and a soft face.

"Yes-- hello, Jin--" Yamashita wheezed out. Nishikido chuckled. Ueda swore he saw Koyama wipe away a tear, but didn't want to check in case they made eye contact.

As they walked through the aisles and to one corner of the store, they saw how the two of them had made a small nest of cushions, towels and sheets. They hastily made room for the extra guests, and Ueda sank down onto a cushion with a sigh. Nishikido and Kato followed, though not as gracefully.

Their little corner was decorated with fairy lights strung around the walls, creating a soft orange light that illuminated their faces and bounced off Nishikido's robot as he played with it, running it up and over Ueda's outstretched leg repeatedly until he hit him. "Stop that," Ueda said, slapping Nishikido's hand before seizing the toy when he didn't stop.

"Yamashita, Ueda's got my robot."

"Play nice," Yamashita muttered, before turning back to talk to Jin. Kamenashi laughed.

"What the hell does it _do?"_ Ueda asked, turning the toy around. Nishikido flapped at him.

"It's a robo-- seriously? Just give it back!"

"You're such a three year old."

"You're such a bully. Give it ba-- thanks, Koyama." Ueda turned to the tall man, who was sitting beside him. Ueda found himself practically sitting on top of Nishikido in the next second, trying to get away from him. Nishikido just laughed and put a hand on his head, patting him.

"Oh, by the way, Yamapi - Merry Christmas," Koyama said, pulling a badly-wrapped present out of Kato's backpack. Koyama smiled, and passed it over to Yamapi, who was wide-eyed.

"Th-thanks," he stuttered out, giving him one of his rare smiles. Koyama just beamed back. He unwrapped it, well aware of the many pairs of eyes focused on his every move. Especially Jins, because he was resting his chin on his shoulder and breathing down his neck. He shrugged his shoulders, smirking as Jin muttered a soft "ow".

The present was only little. It was a rock, with a painted smile on it's surface. "I call him George," Koyama said proudly, and Yamashita laughed.

"Thanks," Yamashita said again. He hadn't even known it was Christmas at all. Days had just blended together, and he never even thought that perhaps he should check a calendar. These things normally don't run through one's mind, as they're running from zombies.

Tegoshi pulled out another, flatter package. "Is this one mine?"

"Has it got skulls on it?"

"Yes."

"Then it's yours."

Tegoshi handed the present over, and Yamashita set aside George carefully as he opened this one, too. It was a drawing. "...what is it?" he asked, and Tegoshi's face fell.

"It's _you,"_ he said, crestfallen. Koyama gave a strangled cry and reached for him. "Well, it's all of us."

It didn't look like _anything,_ Yamashita thought, but he pocketed the gift anyway, thanking Tegoshi. Kato's gift was a thick history book that he had found from an empty library, and Yamashita practically split his face in two, he was smiling so widely. _"How did you know I like history?"_ he asked, happily flipping through the pages. Kato shrugged.

"Ahem," Ueda cleared his throat, and the others turned to look at him. "In case any of you even _care_ , Nishikido and I wrote a song."

"Aaaw, that's so sweet - they're such a cute couple," Koyama whispered to Kato, who spat out the water he had been sipping.

_"Anyway,"_ Ueda pressed on, as Nishikido unzipped his guitar case and pulled out his instrument. Kato, Yamashita and Tegoshi exchanged glances, as they realised that they had never actually _heard_ Nishikido play the guitar, and what if he was really bad at it?

But he wasn't. He was actually really good. He didn't sing, though, because he and Ueda refused to, because that would obviously be too corny. Kamenashi suggested finding a tambourine somewhere in the store to accompany them, but they had to physically restrain Koyama from doing exactly that. " _Sarcasm,_ " Kato hissed. "That was _sarcasm_."

They had presents for each other, too, and Kamenashi and Jin both found as many edible things they could in the store.

"Merry Christmas!" they bellowed, at the top of their lungs, digging into the array of Hello Kitty treats. They were overly sugary and Ueda almost spat his out, but they all passed their available rations out, making their own, small Christmas feast.

It wasn't until later that Yamashita found, with a smile, a small tree, decorated with Pokemon baubles and tinsel weighing it down. Strangely, he thought, casting a look behind him at the now-sleeping group - it was probably the best Christmas he had ever had.

If you took away the zombies, of course.

 

\--the end


End file.
